Departure
80%
vs 95% ▼ 16
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Qualicum Beach Airport (CAT4) sits on the east coast of Vancouver Island, a short flight from Nanaimo, Comox and the Lower Mainland, with a single asphalt runway oriented essentially east-west. It is a busy general aviation field with a flying club, flight school, helicopter operators and a mandatory frequency area, making it a popular fly-in destination for visiting pilots.
Qualicum Beach Airport is a town-operated general aviation aerodrome on the east coast of Vancouver Island, just south of the town of Qualicum Beach, British Columbia. It is home to a flying club, a flight school (Sealand Flight), helicopter operators including Sunwest Helicopters, Ascent Helicopters and Airspan Helicopters, Royal Canadian Air Cadets 893 Squadron, and Arrowsmith Search and Rescue, and it also sees scheduled commercial flights with Iskwew Air to Vancouver. For a sim pilot it offers an interesting mix of quiet coastal VFR flying, a mandatory frequency area to work with, and a runway with a notable slope, all set against the backdrop of the Strait of Georgia and Vancouver Island's mountains.
The airport lies 1.8 nautical miles south of the town of Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, on the east coast of Vancouver Island. It is a mandatory frequency (MF) area with a five nautical mile radius, inside which pilots must make position reports; outside that area, pilots typically switch to Straits Traffic on 123.2 MHz, as noted on the Vancouver VFR Terminal Area chart. Comox Centre provides area control services relevant to the vicinity.
The airfield has a single physical runway, 11/29, aligned essentially east-west magnetically. Runway 29 is 3,350 feet long and runway 11 is 3,076 feet long; both are hard-surfaced and lit.
The mandatory frequency for Qualicum Beach is 122.8 MHz, on which position reports should be addressed to "Qualicum Beach Traffic" (this frequency is shared with Squamish and Duncan). Outside the mandatory frequency area, pilots normally report on Straits Traffic, 123.2 MHz. Comox Centre operates on 123.7 MHz. There is no ATIS at the airport; pilots are advised to check aviation weather reports from Comox and Nanaimo and interpolate between the two. The airport has no ILS or other instrument approach aids noted. Runway lighting is ARCAL type K, pilot-activated on 122.8 MHz by clicking the microphone seven times within five seconds for HIGH intensity, five more clicks for MEDIUM, or three for LOW.
Qualicum Beach is a mandatory frequency area extending five nautical miles from the field, within which all traffic must make position reports on 122.8 MHz. Pilots should be alert to the fact that the Vancouver Island shoreline near the airport runs much closer to an east-west line than the north-south orientation many newcomers expect, a result of local geography and magnetic variation of roughly 16 degrees east; this affects how positions relative to the airport should be reported, for example aircraft arriving from the Nanaimo area are often east, not south, of the field despite what pilots may assume. The runway itself is oriented essentially east-west magnetically. At night, circuit altitude increases to 1,400 feet above sea level, night operations are prohibited when the PAPI is out of service, and night flying is restricted between 10 pm and 6 am local time except for medevac or with prior permission. The Good Neighbour Program, referenced by the Town of Qualicum Beach, sets local guidelines on flight paths, circuit times and rates of climb to manage noise concerns.
Pilots on frequency may hear local informal reporting points not shown on the VFR Navigation Chart. Rathtrevor Beach lies just outside the mandatory frequency area to the east, between Nanoose Bay and Parksville. Little Mountain, whose peak is 820 feet above sea level, is inside the mandatory frequency area about four nautical miles southeast of the airport and can also be used to estimate visibility and cloud heights. The Ascent Helicopters base is two nautical miles southeast of the airport near the town of Coombs. French Creek Marina lies abeam the airport on the shoreline and is a useful reference for setting up a midfield arrival. The Cranberry Fields lie just outside the mandatory frequency area to the west.
Qualicum Beach Airport opened in 1954 and has served the town and surrounding area since. In July 2022 a Cessna 172 made an emergency landing just past the runway, coming to rest in a ditch on a farmer's property; the pilot suffered serious injuries but survived.
The airport today hosts a flying club, a flight school (Sealand Flight), Royal Canadian Air Cadets 893 Squadron, helicopter operators including Sunwest Helicopters, Ascent Helicopters and Airspan Helicopters, Arrowsmith Search and Rescue, and an on-site aircraft maintenance engineer. Iskwew Air operates scheduled commercial flights to Vancouver. Fuel is available on Apron 1 in front of the terminal building, with Jet A and 100 low-lead avgas at separate pumps to the east and west respectively. Aircraft parking is available on Apron 1 and on a grass tie-down area near Apron 2, with a suggested donation of about ten dollars for overnight transient parking under town bylaw. Winter maintenance and snow removal are limited and are published by NOTAM when conducted. Overnight camping for visiting pilots is possible but requires prior permission from the Town of Qualicum Beach. The Final Approach restaurant operates from the terminal building.
